You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than 12:01am Sunday, April 15). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0. You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?"
Split Second takes place in New York City, and begins the play on the 28th and Eleventh Avenue. It is set from the evening of July 4th to the morning of July 6th, but the time period isn't specified. The play was written in the 1980's, but has the potential to be set anywhere from that decade to even today. The main characters include Val Johnson, a street cop who is Black, William Willis, who is a white man, Parker, Charlie, Alea Johnson, and Rusty Johnson. The story revolves around a shooting that Val lies about, and he goes on a downward spiral of guilt, paranoia, and lies which ruin some of his personal relationships.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion is when Val lies and tells Parker that he was attacked when questioned about what happened. This is the factor which causes the rest of the story to develop really fast; after making lies to his superior, who doubts his story in the first place but doesn't have the evidence to do anything about it, Val begins to question the reality of what happened in his own head rather than real life events.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
It is the 4th of July weekend, an Val happens to randomly come across a white man who is about to commit a crime. Val is getting fed up with the crimes going on, and because of the fact that Val and William are going their own ways, and happen to meet and it is Val's duty (although he is in plainclothes and not on call right now) to investigate the crime occurring or about to occur on this 4th of July weekend.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Val continue to lie about the details of his crime and alter the facts or will he come clean and tell the truth about what actually happened?
If Val continues to lie, will William ever receive "justice" for being killed by a lying cop?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Examine what Val wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters.
At first, Val wants this racist criminal William to be handcuffed to keep the situation under control. The obstacle standing against this is that William is extremely volatile and spews racist comments which angers Val very much that he shoots and kills him. After this huge event happens and he lies about that night, he wants to forget about the whole thing. The obstacle for that is his superior doesn't believe him after he lies, and the guilt starts to creep out. Val starts losing control over his life; his family has differing beliefs on what to do, and he is under suspicion. His desire to keep his father happy (who is a retired cop) and his father’s approval cripples his chances for satisfaction. Internally, he also has self-destructive tendencies that further decrease his probability for a happy life. The biggest obstacle stands because of his race. The entire cause of the rest of the play is created because of a racist man shouting at him for being black. In the time period, he feels pressured to perform beyond everyone’s expectations in the force, especially because black people were seen as below white people. The superiority and racism above him from white people plagues him no matter where he goes.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second.
The most theatrical moment is the beginning scene. The violent, intense, and graphic words William shouts at Val heighten the scene and start the whole play off with a sense of terror and being on-edge. The event leads up to the shocking part - when Val shoots and kills William. The culmination and drama is portrayed to show the racism and societal expectation of how a black man and white man need to act with each other. When reading his scene, one can feel the adrenaline that pumps from both men and it translates pretty realistically into a big moment. Another theatrical moment is when Val is talking about flashbacks to Vietnam. He goes on with Charlie to talk about how William is the first man he has killed and the impact it has made is unlike what he expected even back from the war. Once again, this moment encompasses the tension inside of Val and how bad he is conflicted on saying the truth or keeping the lie.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play?
One example of an image is the gun going off; the title means that anything can change in a split second, it doesn't take much time at all to change the course of what is to come and the unexpected. The gun going off in just a split second is a symbol of showing how fast anything can dramatically change the world. The tense argument between the men turns into murder in literally a split second. Another image example is William himself. Val cannot get over the man's name and this shows how bad internally he is suffering from guilt and his conscience. Lastly, another example is the flashbacks to Vietnam. The parallels between the war and the shooting between Val and William are evident. For example, the Vietnam War was unpopular and created a lot of backlash from protesters. This relates to Val because on one side, his dad protests the idea of keeping everything a secret. On the other hand, his wife supports him and is willing to forget about it if he does too.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second.
Some themes in this play include racism, violence, consequences of actions, expectations from society, balancing family and work, and truth vs lies.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second?
Val deeply cares about his father Rusty, but Rusty is extremely against the idea of keeping the secret. He doesn't want him to maintain the lie, and he says that if Val keeps maintaining it, he cannot live with his son's decision. Val's wife is more understanding of his position and says that he should continue to go on with the lie. She understands that because he is a black man who shot a white man, he will get scrutinized and outed by the deep set racism going on in that era. Rusty, who is a generation older than his son, thinks about things differently in the sense that he doesn't see being black the same way Val and his wife do. Val and his wife understand the discrimination that will occur (and already occurs in other ways) if the truth gets leaked out or if he confesses.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?"
Split Second takes place in New York City, and begins the play on the 28th and Eleventh Avenue. It is set from the evening of July 4th to the morning of July 6th, but the time period isn't specified. The play was written in the 1980's, but has the potential to be set anywhere from that decade to even today. The main characters include Val Johnson, a street cop who is Black, William Willis, who is a white man, Parker, Charlie, Alea Johnson, and Rusty Johnson. The story revolves around a shooting that Val lies about, and he goes on a downward spiral of guilt, paranoia, and lies which ruin some of his personal relationships.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion is when Val lies and tells Parker that he was attacked when questioned about what happened. This is the factor which causes the rest of the story to develop really fast; after making lies to his superior, who doubts his story in the first place but doesn't have the evidence to do anything about it, Val begins to question the reality of what happened in his own head rather than real life events.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
It is the 4th of July weekend, an Val happens to randomly come across a white man who is about to commit a crime. Val is getting fed up with the crimes going on, and because of the fact that Val and William are going their own ways, and happen to meet and it is Val's duty (although he is in plainclothes and not on call right now) to investigate the crime occurring or about to occur on this 4th of July weekend.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Val continue to lie about the details of his crime and alter the facts or will he come clean and tell the truth about what actually happened?
If Val continues to lie, will William ever receive "justice" for being killed by a lying cop?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Examine what Val wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters.
At first, Val wants this racist criminal William to be handcuffed to keep the situation under control. The obstacle standing against this is that William is extremely volatile and spews racist comments which angers Val very much that he shoots and kills him. After this huge event happens and he lies about that night, he wants to forget about the whole thing. The obstacle for that is his superior doesn't believe him after he lies, and the guilt starts to creep out. Val starts losing control over his life; his family has differing beliefs on what to do, and he is under suspicion. His desire to keep his father happy (who is a retired cop) and his father’s approval cripples his chances for satisfaction. Internally, he also has self-destructive tendencies that further decrease his probability for a happy life. The biggest obstacle stands because of his race. The entire cause of the rest of the play is created because of a racist man shouting at him for being black. In the time period, he feels pressured to perform beyond everyone’s expectations in the force, especially because black people were seen as below white people. The superiority and racism above him from white people plagues him no matter where he goes.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second.
The most theatrical moment is the beginning scene. The violent, intense, and graphic words William shouts at Val heighten the scene and start the whole play off with a sense of terror and being on-edge. The event leads up to the shocking part - when Val shoots and kills William. The culmination and drama is portrayed to show the racism and societal expectation of how a black man and white man need to act with each other. When reading his scene, one can feel the adrenaline that pumps from both men and it translates pretty realistically into a big moment. Another theatrical moment is when Val is talking about flashbacks to Vietnam. He goes on with Charlie to talk about how William is the first man he has killed and the impact it has made is unlike what he expected even back from the war. Once again, this moment encompasses the tension inside of Val and how bad he is conflicted on saying the truth or keeping the lie.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play?
One example of an image is the gun going off; the title means that anything can change in a split second, it doesn't take much time at all to change the course of what is to come and the unexpected. The gun going off in just a split second is a symbol of showing how fast anything can dramatically change the world. The tense argument between the men turns into murder in literally a split second. Another image example is William himself. Val cannot get over the man's name and this shows how bad internally he is suffering from guilt and his conscience. Lastly, another example is the flashbacks to Vietnam. The parallels between the war and the shooting between Val and William are evident. For example, the Vietnam War was unpopular and created a lot of backlash from protesters. This relates to Val because on one side, his dad protests the idea of keeping everything a secret. On the other hand, his wife supports him and is willing to forget about it if he does too.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second.
Some themes in this play include racism, violence, consequences of actions, expectations from society, balancing family and work, and truth vs lies.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second?
Val deeply cares about his father Rusty, but Rusty is extremely against the idea of keeping the secret. He doesn't want him to maintain the lie, and he says that if Val keeps maintaining it, he cannot live with his son's decision. Val's wife is more understanding of his position and says that he should continue to go on with the lie. She understands that because he is a black man who shot a white man, he will get scrutinized and outed by the deep set racism going on in that era. Rusty, who is a generation older than his son, thinks about things differently in the sense that he doesn't see being black the same way Val and his wife do. Val and his wife understand the discrimination that will occur (and already occurs in other ways) if the truth gets leaked out or if he confesses.